Jisc expands support for university research commercialisation
Jisc has expanded its support for research commercialisation and knowledge exchange through a new agreement designed to help universities identify and develop industry partnerships.
The agreement provides access to Dimensions Industry Partnerships, an analytics platform developed by Digital Science which brings together information on relationships between researchers, universities and industry.
It is the first in a planned series of agreements aimed at giving universities access to specialist tools to support the commercial development and wider impact of research.
The move comes as research translation and commercialisation have risen up the policy agenda, with initiatives including the Modern Industrial Strategy, UK Spin-out Register and UK Research and Innovation's Shared TTO Pilot placing greater emphasis on helping institutions turn research and intellectual property into economic and societal benefit.
While universities may already have extensive industry relationships, information on existing collaborations and potential commercial opportunities can be fragmented across different systems and teams.
Dimensions Industry Partnerships is intended to provide a single source of intelligence, allowing institutions to identify companies already engaging with their research, find potential collaborators and benchmark their strengths against other organisations.
The platform can also be used to identify opportunities for knowledge exchange, licensing and research commercialisation.
Anna Vernon, head of research licensing at Jisc, said: "Research commercialisation and knowledge exchange are becoming increasingly important priorities for universities as they look to maximise the economic and societal impact of their research.
"This agreement gives institutions access to trusted intelligence that can help them identify industry partners, strengthen existing relationships and uncover new opportunities for collaboration and commercialisation."
Vernon said the agreement was the first of a series of offers expected to be introduced to the sector, with the aim of giving Jisc members access to specialist solutions through simplified procurement and pricing arrangements.
The new agreement reflects a wider push to improve the route from research discovery to commercial application, as universities seek to make more effective use of their research strengths and intellectual property.
Jonathan Breeze, executive vice president, academic markets at Digital Science, said universities were under increasing pressure to demonstrate the value of their research beyond academia.
"Connecting with industry is a big part of that," he said. "Making Dimensions Industry Partnerships available through Jisc is a practical step towards giving more institutions the tools they need to identify future commercial partners and to develop existing commercial relationships further."
Jisc has negotiated banded pricing based on institutional size, with the agreement intended to be accessible to organisations ranging from large research-intensive universities to smaller and specialist providers.
The service is available through Jisc's Licence Subscriptions Manager, removing the need for individual institutions to undertake separate procurement exercises.
Jisc, created in 1993 as the Joint Information Systems Committee/JISC, supplies IT and digital services for research, higher and further education, as well as the public sector. Pic: Medicines Discovery Catapult
